Tax Breaks, Foreign Influence Explains Trump's Support For Johnson Amendment Repeal

Kevin Drum points out the Trump’s plan to repeal the Johnson amendment will open the door for even more illegal campaign contributions and potential foreign influence. While I doubt Trump has any idea about the details of the Johnson amendment, the GOP’s basic complaint about it is that it supposedly restricts the free speech rights of ministers. The amendment is a provision in the US tax code that prohibits non-profit organizations that receive tax-exempt status, which primarily includes charitable foundations, universities, and churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates and other political campaign activities. Of course, it’s not like religious leaders have had any problem signaling their political beliefs even while this amendment was in place (see Franklin Graham.)

The subversive part of repealing the Johnson amendment is that it opens the door for more ways to funnel hidden money into election campaigns. And it opens the door to even more foreign meddling in US elections. Churches are not required to list their donors so foreign governments could just pour money into some front church that they pay some American to set up and, voila, they have access to influence our elections. Of course, turning over more power for foreign governments to influence our elections may be a feature for Trump. What is possibly even more insidious is what it opens up for wealthy Americans. As Dean Baker points out, using that same church front, a wealthy American could give $100 million to the church and receive a $40 million tax break for doing so. The church could then use that $100 million to actively promote the campaign of the individual giver. In essence, taxpayers would be subsidizing campaigns for the wealthy individuals. And the added benefit is Trump can pretend he is protecting the free speech rights of ministers, preferably Christian. No wonder this has such great appeal for Trump.